Medina Azahara, Cordoba, Spain, 940 AD

The Medina Azahara was a city palace built for Abd-al-Rahman III located at the foot of the Sierra Morena mountain, five miles from the city. In 929 AD, Abd-al-Rahman had proclaimed himself as Caliph, and planned to build this city palace in honor of Azahara. The designs of this palace has many bright red and golden colors, with arches that look really thick in width, but sits on little thin columns.

Arches in Medina Azahara

The city was built with three terraces, separated by highest to lowest class levels in the Royal Castle (highest and middle), and mosques (lower class). Medina Azahara had three different public areas: the High Hall, Rich Hall, and High Garden. The High Hall had five naves decorated with arches. The Rich Hall was divided into three naves with red and blue marble arches. The High Garden had four different parts: a summer house in the middle surrounded by four ponds.

Birds-Eye View of Medina Azahara

One of the significant things about this city palace was the ponds that it inhabits. These ponds contained mercury, and this lit up the areas with thousands of flashing colors. Abd-al-Rahman had dedicated much of this construction to include the mercury in the ponds, the signature red and golden arches, pavilions, and roofs covered in gold. Many of the buildings in this city were actually built with the same material, or similar to the mosque of Cordoba’s sandstone.

Floor Plan of Medina Azahara (City Palace)

This space was mostly used for great receptions. The caliph would stand in the middle of the room surrounded by his audience, and usually they would have long endless speeches and poetic compositions recited there.

Sadly, this really beautiful site has been destroyed during the Civil Wars at the turn of the 11th century. Medina Azahara had only lived for 70 years, and now it just sits in its ruins today.

Works cited:

"Official Tourist Website for the City of Cordoba - Accommodation, Restaurants, Places of Interest, Activities, Cultural Programme and All Other Tourist Information for Visitors and Professionals." Tourism of Cordoba - Medina Azahara - Cordoba. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.

Geographic, National. "Medina Azahara." Www.nationalgeographic.com.es. National Geographic, 14 Oct. 2016. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.